Newsletter

A word from the CEO

Firstly, thanks to those who sent such warm words of welcome in response to my being formally appointed CEO of FRRR – they were greatly appreciated. There is a wonderful legacy on which to build and I am very much looking forward to continuing to grow FRRR and connect even more donors with local leaders to deepen our reach into rural, regional and remote Australia. Recently, we welcomed Dominos as a new partner, and I hope they will be the first of many.

By Jamieson Murphy Dec. 12, 2015,

Northerners are being urged to help map the NSW koala population west of the Great Dividing Range to save them from localised extinction.

The Western Woodlands Alliance (WWA) said its project was the first step towards creating a landscape-wide koala park.

The group is calling on people from the New England region to share their memories and records of koalas over the past 50 years.

WWA spokesman Noel Plumb said koalas and their woodland habitats were being lost rapidly due to intensive over-logging, coal mining, coal seam gas extraction, land clearing, and climate change with record drought.

Koala numbers in the Pilliga forest have fallen from about 10,000 to less than 100 in only 20 years, while numbers in the "Koala Capital" of Gunnedah are down significantly.

"Koalas are nearly extinct in the mighty Pilliga forest, after decades of intensive industrial logging and fire management that has put the interests of the logging industry before the wildlife, the woodlands and the safety of the broader community," Mr Plumb said.

Healthy Kids Bus Stop - Wee Waa

Over 54 Children were identified for referrals to local and specialised health services. Well done to everyone involved!

Our Healthy Kids Bus Stop team are making their final visit for 2015 this week in the town of Wee Waa. A huge thanks to all of our supporters who have helped make this visit possible. A special mention to the Hunter New England Local Health District, Healthwise, Auscott, Ronald McDonald House Charities and Wee Waa Public Schoo

Held Thursday the 10th December

Great evening was held with lots of stalls and chocolate wheel. Great support for this community event. Wee Waa Chamber of Commerce do a great job to organise this event. Thank you to all the shop fronts and stallholders, Lions club, Max Fm, Face painters, Rotary club,the fishing club, grins and giggles photo booth and Santa! You make this night such a success.
And congratulations to the winners of the shopper dollars!
$1000 Winner - Kay Wood
$500 Winner - Katlin Manton
$250 Winner - Kathy Allwell

Australia’s economic performance of the last 20 years has been unlike anywhere else in the world. This remarkable story has generally been told in terms of industries: the mining boom, the fate of manufacturing in Australia and now, the role of construction and infrastructure investment for our future.

This is an important part of the story – but it is not all.

A spatial perspective reveals many hidden insights about our economy, and its future potential. Far from being a drag on national prosperity as is commonly assumed, regions outside our major cities are an important source of Australia’s economic growth.

Our regions’ workforce accounts for one third of employment in Australia, and regional Australia is at the forefront of output per worker in over a third of industries. Most remarkably, since 2001, regional Australia has gained ground on metro areas in productivity terms in every industry except mining.

The importance of regional Australia to the national economy means that realising the potential of our regions remains critical to securing future prosperity for all Australians. Understanding the scale of this opportunity will be critical for getting things right for Australia as a whole.

The Land Newspaper

FARMERS near the Pilliga Forest are gambling on having their voices heard after they blockaded a CSG wastewater plant with a six-tonne hay bale wall in protest action yesterday.

About 50 farmers, their families and supporters blockaded the access road for Santos’ Leewood CSG wastewater treatment facility near the Pilliga forest with nearly six tonnes of hay bales formed into a six-foot high wall.

The farmers played poker atop the hay wall and beneath them was a banner stating “Santos: Stop Gambling with our Farming Future”.

The blockade stopped construction of Phase 2 of the Leewood project yesterday.

“We simply cannot accept this game of Russian roulette Santos is playing with our groundwater,” said Coonamble farmer Josh Borowski.

“Coal seam gas jeopardises our future as farmers on the land and we are determined to stop Santos and protect our sustainable farming livelihoods.

“We are utterly opposed to the Santos Narrabri Gas Project proposal in the Pilliga forest.”

Mr Borowski’s wife, Stephanie, attended the protest with their one-year-old baby and said they could not stand by while the “toxic industry” polluted their environment and contaminated their groundwater.

“We utterly rely on groundwater on our farm – a risk to groundwater is a risk to our future,” she said.

By Jamieson Murphy Northern Daily Laeader

ANTI-coal seam gas activists have continued to disrupt Santos activities in the Pilliga forest, staging small protests throughout the week, including a 22-hour blockade of the company’s pilot gas wells that had to be broken up by police.

At 9am on Tuesday, police were called to end the overnight standoff, which started at 10am on Monday.

Santos said the group of eight protesters restricted access at two separate sites where the company was undertaking routine pump maintenance, delaying work for about three to four hours.

“Three of the protesters slept at the site overnight, with another five protesters joining in the morning. When the police arrived, the protesters left the site without incident,” Santos general manager of energy NSW Peter Mitchley said.

This morning we were contacted by a person from another area of the state to say that a person calling himself Williams Alfred wanted to purchase a car that they had not seen and needed her paypal details to do so.

The Internet coming up to Christmas is a high time for scammers to be active. This person advertised on Gumtree. This has happened before with a fictitious advertisement for a job in the area which people fell for and paid money. This is a serious way to get money and take identity from people. This guy has even give a drivers license number although it has no letter on the end a sure sign that it is fake. Below is the email the person received. Please be alert and aware coming up to Christmas for these online scammers, mostly from overseas.

Hello,Williams Alfred ..My address is 69 Boolcarrol Rd wee waa nsw 2388,My license no is 12944704..With the issue of my details,transferring the name of ownership and signing of all paperwork will be done by the pick up agent so you don't have to worry about that.,as soon as you send me your PayPal email i will make the payment and you will be notify in your email that the payment have been made.Very easy.For example my PayPal email is williamsalfred7@outlook.com Send me your PayPal email now so i can pay in

ANTI-coal seam gas activists have followed up on their promise to continue disrupting Santos activities in the Pilliga forest by staging a road blockade at the gates of the energy company’s Leewood wastewater treatment yesterday morning.

About 20 people prevented contractors from entering the site for two and a half hours.

Construction started at the site last week, despite the facility being at the centre of a court battle over the legality of its approval.

Wilalla farmer Alistair Donaldson took part in the protest and said he was “deeply concerned” construction was under way before the outcomes of the court case were determined. “If I was in court about the legality of the development application for my house, do you think I’d be allowed to keep building before the case was determined?” Mr Donaldson said.

“If the court finds that Leewood has not been properly assessed, Santos will have to go back to the drawing board in the assessment process and all the work currently under way will have been completed without valid approval.

“There’s double standards at play here and Santos should be required to press pause at least until it’s clear its approval is legal.”

Santos general manager of energy NSW, Peter Mitchley, said the protest activity at Leewood had no impact on Santos operations and the company had all approvals in place to undertake the work.

“The Leewood Phase 2 Project was approved following a rigorous and detailed assessment process which was carried out in accordance with the relevant regulatory guidelines.

By ALEX DRUCE The Land

DROUGHT-ravaged farmers say a new government website will give little comfort to communities devastated by worsening conditions.

Last week Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair trumpeted the arrival of the DroughtHub information portal and NSW Drought Framework flowchart as a one-stop destination for farmers to access drought support and information.

But Walgett Shire Council deputy mayor Jane Keir said the new internet resource was of little use to locals who were struggling to get back on their feet.

“The last thing (farmers) need, working on their own out on the farm, is to look at a nice fuzzy website,” Cr Keir said.

Cr Keir called for the government to commit to interest-free loans instead.

“We don’t want any handouts,” Cr Keir said.

“We just want interest-free loans we can have a while to pay back. And we don’t want to have to be acrobats to get it.”

Paddocks between Walgett and Bourke are cracked and barren and communities are struggling after four years of horrendous conditions.